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Between seven to nine months, your baby may transition to proper crawling using his arms to power him along, but with a little practice he’ll learn to move quickly and efficiently using his legs to do most of the work.
Your baby’s fine motor skills at 9 months will be developing rapidly, and he’ll be working hard to perfect the pincer move – using his thumb and pointing finger to pick up objects. At this age, he needs a variety of different types of toy to satisfy his curiosity and enhance his learning about his environment.
At this stage introduce:
Reasoning Toys
Your baby can now understand that a toy may be hidden inside or behind another toy, so choose toys that will encourage the development of his reasoning skills by making him work things out.
- RECOMMENDED: stacking cups, jack-in-the-box, cloth books.
Physical development toys
You can encourage your baby to practice using his body in new ways by introducing toys that will get him moving.
- RECOMMENDED:
balls and toys that roll, a safe place to explore, household objects, eg. saucepans, lids, plastic cups.
Bath toys
Once he can sit up, he’ll begin to love playing in the bath. Introducing toys that encourage water play will turn the bath into a popular playtime location.
- RECOMMENDED: bath buddies, cups and containers.
This article was written by Ella Walsh for Kidspot – Australia’s parenting resource for newborns and baby. Sources include SA Government’s Parenting and Child Health and Karitane.